8 Ways to Make Money Online with Microstock Photography

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123 Royalty Free pays a 50% commission for each photo you sell on their site. Standard photos sell for $1-$3 depending on size and your photos are not exclusive to 123 Royalty Free, so you may sell them anywhere else you choose. To apply you must provide a form of ID, and send in a number of sample images. 123 Royalty Free accepts only very large images of at least 4 megapixels, so make sure that your camera is capable of this.

BigStockPhoto sells most photos on their site for $1-$2, and you receive 50% of this as your commission. They also offer a "Special Licensing" feature which allows you to choose from a number of different licensing options. The customer is given more flexibility in how they can use your photo, and you are paid much more than for a standard photo. In order to apply, BigStockPhoto provides a short tutorial on what kind of photos they can accept, and then you must answer a few questions based on the tutorial.

Dreamstime pays anywhere from a 50% to 80% commission for photos you sell, which is one of the highest among microstock sites. The commission increases as you sell more of your photos on the site. They also allow you to sell a photo exclusively to a single buyer at a higher price. Dreamstime has an additional program called the "Keymaster" program. Keymasters provide keywords for photos on the site, which are used when customers search for photos. As a Keymaster, you are paid $0.20 for each photo that you provide keywords for.

Fotolia has a standard selling price of $1-$5 for your photos, depending on the size that is purchased. They start you at a 33% commission for these, but as you increase your rank on the site (by selling more photos), you can also increase your commission to close to 50%, and even have some control in setting your own prices on the photos you want to sell. If you choose to sell your photos exclusively through Fotolia, your commission starts at 50% and can rise as high as 64% as you increase your rank.

iStockphoto is currently the largest microstock photography site on the net and therefore has the most potential customers. They also have a very active community of users. To apply, you must send in three high quality sample photos for review, as well as provide a form of ID. The site also provides a training guide that demonstrates what types of photos you should submit. Photographers start out receiving a 20% commission for each photo purchased, although this can be increased to 40% - along with other bonuses - if you decide to sell your photos exclusively through iStockphoto. You will also receive more exposure on the iStockphoto site itself if you choose to be exclusive.

Shutterstock is a popular microstock site with a large number of potential customers - perhaps second only to iStockphoto. They pay $0.25 every single time one of your photos is downloaded by subscribers of the site, and increase this to $0.30 after you reach 500 downloads. The photos you submit to Shutterstock are not exclusive to them, so you can still sell them anywhere else you choose. Shutterstock requires you to send them a set of sample photos before you get full upload privileges.

SnapVillage is another newcomer to the microstock world. There is no application process and you can choose from 5 different pricing options for your photos. The ability to set your own prices is the primary advantage of using SnapVillage. The pricing options start at $1.00 per photo and go as high as $50.00, with $5.00 being the standard. SnapVillage then pays a 30% commission for each photo you sell.

Stockxpert pays a flat $0.30 for each photo sold on the Stockxpert site itself, along with a 50% commission for photos sold through their other methods of distribution. They also accept image sizes as small as 800x600, which is more flexible than other sites. Stockxpert is a very selective site overall. The application process is longer than other microstock sites and requires you to send in 5 high quality sample photos.

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